


A Winter Night in Paris

by heartpanorama



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9065479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartpanorama/pseuds/heartpanorama
Summary: On a cold winter night in Paris, Cat Noir has to come to the rescue of two people he knows. Later, he finally gets to give his Christmas present to Ladybug.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Winternacht in Paris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8806456) by [heartpanorama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartpanorama/pseuds/heartpanorama). 



> This fanfiction was originally written in German for the advent calendar on twitter.com/MiraculersGER.

It was a cold night in Paris and the streets were covered by a thin layer of snow, which reflected the light of the street lamps. On one of the lamps near the Seine, Cat Noir was sitting, hoping Ladybug would remember their agreement to go on patrol with him tonight. On his belt, he had a small package wrapped in dotted paper. It was not Christmas yet, but Cat Noir wanted to make sure that the girl he admired so much would get her present on time. He wanted to show Ladybug how important her friendship was to him. Since he had met her, he had someone to light up his life.  
Around 10 p.m., a high-pitched shriek broke the nocturnal silence. Cat Noir cringed for a moment, then took a hold of himself and searched the area around him for the source of the shriek. His ability to see everything clearly in the dark came in very handy. In the close distance, he recognized three silhouettes which were obviously wrestling with each other. Immediately, he jumped off the street lamp and hurried to help the group. While he was running, he did not notice the package falling off his belt and tumbling beneath a nearby bush.  
When Cat Noir reached the scene, he recognized two of the faces. The girls must have been on their way home from a Christmas party. Cat Noir was not really pleased about the thief trying to snatch the purses from his friends Marinette and Alya. The superhero in the catsuit had the advantage of having the villain stand with his back to him, which is why he had not noticed Cat Noir showing up yet. Both the girls widened their eyes, when they recognized him, but they knew too well that they should not give away his cover. Cat Noir did not hesitate long and lifted the thief off the floor with a quick move. The latter was so surprised that he let go of the handles of Marinette and Alya’s purses immediately. He was kicking around with his legs, until Cat Noir finally put him back onto the floor. After Cat Noir hauled him over the coals, the thief ran away.  
Cat Noir guided the two girls, who were very grateful for him coming to their rescue, home, so they would not get into trouble again. Thinking he would not meet Ladybug today anymore, he wanted to return home. But then he realized he lost something important. He therefore began looking for the small, round package...

As soon as he was sure no one could see him, Cat Noir transformed back to Adrien. He wanted to give his Kwami a break, as the cold was taking its toll on his little friend. Fortunately, Adrien had dressed himself warmly enough, before he and Plagg left his fathers mansion, so he would not be freezing after the detransformation. The boy put his Kwami in one of his warm jacket pockets and gave him a piece of Camembert, so the magical creature would regain its strength. Determined to retrieve his gift for Ladybug, Adrien went back all the way that he had gone since the incident with the thief. When he returned to the street lamp he was sitting on less than an hour ago, he looked around him. The package must have been somewhere near. Finally, he saw the shiny gift ribbon twinkle in the light of the street lamp and rushed to the bush under which the present was lying.  
Just when Adrien picked up the gift and straightened himself, someone approached him. “Adrien?” He recognized the voice, but he wondered why she had come back over here. “Oh, Mari-… Ladybug?” His eyes widened, when he turned towards her and saw someone else than he had expected. Ladybug stood a few steps away from him and held a small bag with Christmas cookies in her hands. She seemed to be just as surprised as he was. Then she composed herself and cleared her throat. “You didn’t happen to see Cat Noir nearby?” she asked him cluelessly. Like ever so often, Adrien had to pull himself together not to just tell her the truth about his identity right away. Instead, he replied sheepishly, “No, I-… I’m sorry.” Ladybug then lowered her head and sighed quietly. „He’s usually in this area at this time of day. I wanted to give him these,” she told him and pointed at the cookies, “as a thank you for everything he’s done for Paris this year and for being such a good friend.” She slightly lifted her glance and looked at Adrien with her sparkling blue eyes. He was genuinely touched by her words, but he tried not to lose his composure because he could not tell her he actually was Cat Noir. Ladybug’s gaze wandered to the small bag in her hand, where it lingered for a while. But then she did something unexpected. She walked up to Adrien and handed him the cookies. Adrien did not know exactly what to make of that. Did she know who he was? When she noticed that he was hesitating, she said: „I’d like to give them to you. Cat Noir probably won’t show up tonight anymore. I’ll bring him new ones next time.” In embarrassment, Adrien took the bag with one hand and thanked her with a quiet voice, filled with emotions.  
At this moment, Ladybug noticed the small package in Adrien’s other hand and raised her eyebrows in bewilderment. Secretly, she was wondering who this present was for, but she did not want to be impolite and ask him about it straightforward. Since her curiosity took over though, she decided to put her question differently: “Did you get your Christmas present early?” Ladybug tried to make it sound as casual as possible. Adrien’s cheeks blushed at her question and he replied shyly: “N-no, actually, it’s a present for a good friend …” When he realized he almost gave his secret away, he added “F-for Marinette”, so he could distract Ladybug from the thought it could be for her. He wanted to give it to her as Cat Noir under any circumstances, so he needed this excuse now. As her eyes widened, Adrien saw that this answer surprised Ladybug a lot. But he could not know what was going on in her head in the meantime. She stuttered that Marinette would surely be happy about the gift, but she did not ask what was inside the package. After a short moment of silence, Ladybug cleared her throat and suggested she could accompany him, so he would make it home safely.

On the next day, Cat Noir had more luck. He met Ladybug on the bridge over the Seine, in the late afternoon. Finally, he could give her the present. Since he did not think of wrapping it into different paper, Ladybug recognized the package, but did not let it show. Nonetheless, she was wondering about it. Did Adrien decide to give it to Ladybug instead and handed it to Cat Noir to deliver it to her? Or was it meant for her in the first place and he did not have the courage to give it to her in person last night? Lost in thoughts, she accepted the round package and thanked Cat Noir politely. He did not say anything about the gift being from Adrien, but she did not want to hurt her friend and partner, so she did not bring up this question.  
When she returned home in the evening and detransformed, Marinette sat down on her bed and unwrapped the gift eagerly. Tikki sat on her shoulder and watched her. Cautiously, Marinette held up the content of the package to have a better look at it. It was a locket designed as a ladybug. Marinette took it in both her hands and opened it carefully. A small, folded piece of paper was in it and a neat handwriting said “For my lady - merry Christmas”. Now she knew the present was really from Cat Noir, which truly touched her. For sure, it was a coincidence that Adrien had used the same wrapping paper for his package. In this moment, Marinette did not even think of him saying it was for her. She was way too happy about Cat Noir’s gift, so she stopped pondering. During her Christmas break, Marinette wore the locket every day; she really liked it a lot and also the meaning it stood for: her friendship with Cat Noir. On her first day of school, she did not think of the necklace possibly revealing her identity as Ladybug. After all, she thought the only one other than her knowing of the piece of jewelry was Cat Noir…


End file.
